Officials, youth sports groups discuss need for more fields

Wednesday

Nov 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By ROBERT BARBOZA

By ROBERT BARBOZA

Editor

DARTMOUTH — Town officials met with representatives of various youth athletic leagues on Nov. 14 to continue discussions on starting a long-range planning process to create new playing fields for the town's growing youth sports programs.

Taking part in the round table session, moderated by Dartmouth Executive Administrator David Cressman, were members of the Park Commission, Director of Parks & Recreation Timothy Lancaster, the Dartmouth School Committee, Director of Development & Grants Deborah Melino-Wender, and representatives of a number of youth athletic groups.

Mr. Cressman said he and the Select Board have made the development of a master plan for the creation of additional athletic fields a town-wide priority, and have invited all youth sports leagues to participate in the planning effort.

The first step in the planning process, he said, is to create a comprehensive inventory of existing playing fields throughout town, and detail their seasonal use by various youth sports and school athletic programs.

The group should also look at all "existing resources" of town-owned land, parks, school properties, and other options for the possible siting of athletic fields in the future, he suggested.

The resource and use data will be analyzed by town officials and youth groups to develop a long-range master plan for the town, with clearly identified goals for creating new fields, a process which could take five years or more. "This is not going to be a simple task," Mr. Cressman noted.

The group's next meeting will be held in January, with the inventory of current fields and seasonal use schedule expected to be completed at that time.

Among the early identified goals of the town-wide task force is identifying a suitable site for an artifical turf playing field for high school athletes and youth leagues to use.

Superintendent of Schools Ana Riley said one of the school department's long-range goals is to someday have all high school athletic teams practicing and playing games at the school, rather than the current sites all over town.

The superintendent also noted some parental interest in expanded middle school sports programs.

Among the town-owned properties to be looked at are undeveloped land behind Crapo Field, operated by the Dartmouth Youth Activities Association, and the nearby court complex operated by the Burgo Basketball Association.

There is also considerable town-owned acreage behind Memorial Stadium and Quinn Elementary School, some land behind the high school, and smaller amounts of open space at Potter School and Gidley School that will be looked at by the planning group.

Park lands on the list include open space at Jones Park, and the Dartmouth Regional Park & Trails complex. Park Department representatives noted that plans are underway to remove the current ballfield fence at Jones Park and create a new lacrosse and field hockey playing field there next year.

One of the meeting's most discussed locations was the Dartmouth Youth Soccer Association complex next to the high school, as the current 10-year lease for the Parks Department land is expiring. The DYSA will be seeking to extend the lease or negotiate a new 10-year agreement.

School officials have been talking to the DYSA about sharing the soccer fields with the high school program, but little progress has been made because of concerns about overuse of the fields.

The soccer league is willing to share a turf field with the high school teams, or relocate to another site if a suitable location can be found and the league is compensated for its considerable investment in the leased property, it was noted. A park commissioner indicated his board was not interested in taking control of the site.

The greatest obstacle to constructing an artificial turf field somewhere in town is the cost, estimated at about $1 million.